A Loving Embrace
by Diane Handal
(From ONE magazine March 2008)
Exiled from their homeland, Iraqis in Amman are not alone

An Iraqi “Catch 22”
by Michael J.L. La Civitaphotos by Dwight Cendrowski
(From Catholic Near East January 1991)
Christian Iraqis in America strive to maintain their Chaldean roots while embracing a new American culture.

On the Road to Damascus
story and photographs by Spencer Osberg
(From ONE magazine November 2008)
Syrias Iraqis strive to rebuild their lives

Iraq
(From ONE magazine September 2010)
Land of Abraham of Ur of the Chaldeans

A New Genesis in Nineveh
by Namo Abdulla
(From ONE magazine November 2011)
Iraqi Christians find safety in the Kurdish-controlled north

Iraqi Christians Want Peace and Jobs
Catholic News Service (14 October 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Iraqis want a return to peace, security and stability and the chance to secure meaningful employment, said two U.S. bishops who traveled to Baghdad in a demonstration of the American Catholic Churchs solidarity with the countrys violence-weary Christians.

Syriac Church in Baghdad Commemorates 2010 Massacre
Catholic News Service (4 November 2011)
BAGHDAD (CNS) — In a somber Mass
commemorating the 2010 massacre at the Church of Our
Lady of Deliverance, Catholic leaders urged their faithful
to have hope for the resurrection of Iraq.

Bishops Urge Catholics to Help Iraqis
Catholic News Service (16 November 2011)
BALTIMORE (CNS) — The nation and American
Catholics both can help keep Iraq from sliding into chaos
once U.S. troops leave the country at the end of the year,
said two U.S. bishops who visited Iraq for four days in
October.

Gunmen Attack Iraqi Archbishops Residence
Catholic News Service (13 January 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Gunmen shooting at
guards keeping watch over the archbishops residence in Kirkuk in northern Iraq triggered a firefight, leaving two of the gunmen dead and five policemen wounded.

Chaldeans Face Moral Risks in United States
Catholic News Service (18 May 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Iraqi Catholics fleeing
physical danger in their homeland often find themselves
unprepared for the moral threats awaiting their families in
the United States, said the head of Chaldean Catholics in
the Western U.S.

Middle East Religious Leaders Meet in Rome
Catholic News Service (26 September 2012)
ROME (CNS) — Western nations need to respect the people of the Middle East and trust them to solve their own problems, said an Iraqi diplomat, an Iraqi archbishop and a Syrian-born representative of the Melkite Catholic Church.

Iraqi Cardinal and Chaldean Patriarch Retires
Catholic News Service (19 December 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of 85-year-old Cardinal Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad and has called for a late January meeting of the Chaldean synod of bishops to elect a new patriarch for the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Iraqis in Jordan Go to the Polls, Hoping for Stability at Home
Catholic News Service (29 April 2014)
AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) — A steady stream of Iraqi refugees, smiling and displaying purple index fingers, emerged from a polling station in the Hashemi Shamali district, where the majority of these urban refugees live in the Jordanian capital.

Christians From Mosul Say They Have Been Targeted for Months
Catholic News Service (16 June 2014)
AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) —The fall of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, to Islamist militants in early June sent half a million residents scurrying for safety, but Christians from the city say they were targeted long before Iraqi security forces abandoned the major political and economic hub.

Chaldean Bishops Appeal for Dialogue to Keep Iraq From Civil War
Catholic News Service (30 June 2014)
BEIRUT (CNS) — Chaldean Catholic bishops, meeting for their annual synod in Irbil, Iraq, appealed for “courageous dialogue” to pull the embattled country out “from a dark tunnel” and expressed their fear that a civil war could erupt, breaking apart the country.

Patriarch Decries ‘Mass Cleansing’ of Mosul by ‘a Bed of Criminals’
Catholic News Service (25 July 2014)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III, in Washington to meet with federal government representatives and members of Congress, decried the “mass cleansing” of Christians from Mosul, Iraq, by what he called “a bed of criminals.”

U.S. Chaldeans Decry ‘Genocide’ of Iraqi Christians, Rally for Aid
Catholic News Service (4 August 2014)
DETROIT (CNS) — Shouting slogans such as “Obama, Obama, where are you? Iraqi Christians need you!” and “Stop the violence in Iraq!” about 150 protesters marched through the streets of downtown Detroit on 1 August to call awareness to the violent persecution of Christians in their native land.

Amid Iraqi Suffering, Chaldean Catholics Urged to Keep Focus on Jesus
Catholic News Service (6 August 2014)
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CNS) — Standing in the sanctuary of Mother of God Chaldean Cathedral, flanked by an empty cross and two ominous red symbols, Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat led more than 1,000 people on 1 August in an earnest prayer for peace and a plea for help.

Lebanon’s Maronite Bishops Condemn Islamist Incursions
Catholic News Service (8 August 2014)
BEIRUT (CNS) — Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic bishops underscored their “full confidence” in the country’s military and security forces as the Lebanese army battled Islamist militants’ incursion into Lebanon near the border with Syria.

Pope to Send Envoy to Displaced Christians in Iraq
Catholic News Service (11 August 2014)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Given the “grave situation in Iraq,” Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Fernando Filoni to travel to the region to meet church and government officials, but especially to meet Christians chased from their homes by militants of the Islamic State.

Iraqi Minorities Need More Than Material Aid, Cardinal Says
Catholic News Service (17 August 2014)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The one thing Iraqi church leaders and aid workers, foreign charities and governments cannot do for the displaced and terrorized people of northeastern Iraq is answer their question, “What will become of us?” said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the pope’s envoy to the region.

“We Need Actions, Not Words” to Stop Militants, Says Chaldean Leader
Catholic News Service (18 August 2014)
PHOENIX (CNS) — As the heart-rending images of Christians and Yezidis fleeing for their lives continue to pour in from Iraq, the Vatican called on Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbarity” and “unspeakable criminal acts” of Islamic State militants in Iraq.

U.S. Dominicans Praying, ‘Agonizing’ for Iraqi Dominicans, Villagers
Catholic News Service (19 August 2014)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Dominican Sister Attracta Kelly in Adrian, Michigan, has been able to speak a few times with the superior of a group of Iraqi Dominicans and knows how desperate their situation is since they escaped Islamicists in northern Iraq.

Elderly Iraqi Christians Defy Terrorists, Flee to Camp
Catholic News Service (19 August 2014)
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — A group of 11 sick, disabled and elderly Iraqi Christians —including an 80-year-old woman with breast cancer — defied terrorists who ordered them to convert to Islam or be beheaded, saying they preferred death to giving up their faith.

Catholic, Orthodox Patriarchs Visit Erbil to Support Displaced Iraqis
Catholic News Service (20 August 2014)
BEIRUT (CNS) — A delegation of Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs visited Erbil, Iraq, to show their support and solidarity with the more than 100,000 Christians and minorities displaced in the country by the advance of Islamist militants.

Priest Shocked at Condition for Iraqis Displaced in Erbil
Catholic News Service (22 August 2014)
BEIRUT (CNS) — As secretary to Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III, Father Rami Wakim has met scores of Syrian refugees, but said he was shocked at the flood of displaced Iraqis he encountered in Erbil, Iraq.

Deacons’ Ordination Designed to Bring Hope in Northern Iraq
Catholic News Service (16 January 2015)
AIN KAWA, Iraq (CNS) — Despite the pain of recent loss of family and ancestral homes at the hands of Islamist extremists, Iraqi Catholics welcomed four seminarians — three as deacons, one as a subdeacon — in a ceremony meant to encourage renewed hope for the future.

U.S. Bishops Travel to Iraq, Meet Displaced Christians
Catholic News Service (27 January 2015)
AIN KAWA, Iraq (CNS) — One of Iraq’s Christians chased out of her historic homeland quietly prayed the rosary as a bishop who traveled halfway around the world to meet her and others displaced celebrated Mass for them.

Education a Priority for Church Agencies Aiding Iraqis
Catholic News Service (12 February 2015)
SHARIAH COLLECTIVE, Iraq (CNS) — Young children happily sing songs in Kurdish and Arabic, play interactive games, learn to count and how to read and write under a big colorful tent. Meanwhile, teens and pre-teens study more serious subjects.

Faith Lives on Despite Suffering in Iraq, Syria
Catholic News Service (6 April 2015)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More than 1,000 people packed into a tent in a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq, for the Easter vigil Mass celebrated by Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, former nuncio to Iraq and Pope Francis’ personal representative to those forced to flee the fury of Islamic State militants.

Cardinal Says Education Is Key to Iraqi Refugees’ Recovery
Catholic News Service (15 April 2015)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Educating children is the best way to help displaced Iraqi Christians recover from the traumatic experience of being chased from their homes by Islamic State militants, said Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England, after an 11-12 April visit to Erbil.

Priest Finds Frustrations Build Among Christians in Iraq Camp
Catholic News Service (21 July 2015)
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — When the Islamic State overran the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh last August, one of the priests there jumped into his car and joined the exodus of Christians on the road east in the hope of reaching the safety of Kurdish-controlled territory.

Pope Urges Peace in Iraq, Prays for Christians
Catholic News Service (26 October 2015)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called on the international community to find a way to bring peace to Iraq and the Middle East and prayed that Christians there would no longer be forced to flee their homes.

Picture of the Day: Healing in Hamdaniya
Nasrin Abdul-Ahad Aziz, 53, and her husband Tali Mati Nasser, left, have lost several family members as a result of ethnic and sectarian violence in Iraq. They now reside in Hamdaniya, Iraq. (photo: Safin Hamed)

Picture of the Day: Praying for Iraq
Chaldean Bishop Frank Kalabat carries a monstrance on 1 August as he leads nearly 1,000 Chaldeans outside Mother of God Chaldean Church in Southfield, Michigan in praying for for persecuted Iraqi Christians. (photo: CNS/Mike Stechschulte)

Picture of the Day: A Mission to Iraq
In this image from 2009, Italian Archbishop Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, walks with a Swiss Guard at the Vatican. (photo: CNS/Danilo Schiavella)

Cardinal Collins Appeals for Help for Iraqi Christians
The Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins, Vice Chair of the CNEWA Board of Directors in Canada, has asked Canadians to provide concrete help to Iraq’s Christians, who have been targeted by militants of the Islamic State.

FAQ on Christian Persecution in Iraq
A few days ago, the Archdiocese of Toronto posted on its blog an excellent primer on the unfolding crisis in Iraq - complete with advice on how others can help. We post it below for your information and guidance.

Picture of the Day: Displaced in Iraq
People displaced by violence sit outside St. Joseph Chaldean Church in Ain Kawa, Iraq, on 14 August. (photo: CNS/courtesy Aid to the Church in Need-USA)

Picture of the Day: In Solidarity
Protesters in Stuttgart, Germany, rally during a demonstration on 23 August initiated by the Syrian Orthodox Church in solidarity with religious minorities threatened in northern Iraq and throughout the Middle East. (photo: CNS/Inga Kjer, EPA)

IRAQ UPDATE:Sisters Show Their Support
Today, we received an email from Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director in Beirut, with some important news on the work being undertaken to support our suffering brothers and sisters in Iraq.

Picture of the Day: Middle East to Southwest
A Dominican Sister of St. Catherine of Siena from Iraq visits El Cajon, California, for the ordination of her nephew at St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in August 2015. (photo: Nancy Wiechec)

Picture of the Day: Alive and Kicking
A boy kicks a soccer ball in a class at the Al Bishara School, which is run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Ain Kawa, near Erbil, Iraq. (photo: Paul Jeffrey)

Picture of the Day: Lift Every Voice
Young displaced students from a variety of faiths and backgrounds sing together in Arabic in Dohuk, Iraq. For more on the displaced in Iraq, read 'God Wants Me Here' in the current edition of ONE. (photo: Paul Jeffrey)

Picture of the Day: So Recently New
Sisters Luma and Montaha, of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, visit Qaraqosh’s Church of Sts. Behnam and Sarah, damaged by ISIS. The church was built in 2008. (photo: Raed Rafei)

Picture of the Day: Circle of Friends
Displaced Iraqi Christian girls play during a break at the summer school organized by the Syriac Catholic Church of Martha Shmouny in Ain Kawa, a suburb of Erbil in Kurdish Iraq. (photo: Raed Rafei)

Picture of the Day: Hear Our Prayer
In this image from 2016, children prepare for first communion at a Catholic church in a displaced persons camp in Ain Kawa, near Erbil, Iraq.